Kayaking and BFS bass at Los Alamitos Bay 11/22/14

 I recently got my kayak about 3 weeks ago with the intention of using it for the bays and the inside of breakwalls on those calmer days. My vessel was christened last week at Newport Harbor with a few MINI Spotties and a Sculpin to boot. It wasn't a day of catching, but it was fun nonetheless.

To make up for the slow day last week I figured I'd give a shot at the one harbor I usually do well at in my tube. Los Alamitos Bay was the harbor of choice. Again, it wasn't a day of catching, but I really appreciated each fish I caught.

I was on the water at 0830 off the water at 1430. The first fish was at 1300 SUPER STOKED about that little skunk beater. Towards the end of the day I managed to bag another one at 13". An octopus was also caught today, but it slithered away before I got a chance to get any pictures.

I think I'll avoid taking my yak to small bays from now on. Or if I do I'll avoid tight structure fishing and opt for deeper more open bays.

My arms, neck, and back are sore as hell lol!

LRF in China

I'm writing on behalf of a fellow angler who is absolutely killing it on the rockfish and other rock dwelling species in China.  He fishes these less than desirable waters on a daily basis often putting his mornings at work usually resulting in a good tug of the the line.  His most common quarry, black rockfish, Sebastes schlegeli, is often found under rocky crevices lying in wait for that opportunistic meal.

Approaching these fish takes a skilled hand, pair of eyes, and understanding of the fish's nature.  Anyone catch catch the smaller of these fish by sinking a piece of cut bait at them.  BUT, it is the larger, reproducing females that takes skill.  Nevertheless, rockfish of all sizes are caught on his lures. 

There's a variety of ways to pursue these critters casting plastics and retrieving, jigging the bottom, and jerking are one of many ways to entice these hard fighting scrappers.  But, the preferred method is often presenting a small plastic such as a grub or worm at the opening of a rock.

Initially, he will attempt to ignite a reaction strike from these fish using a darting plastic such as a small jerkshad on a jighead. If that does not work he slows his approach to using a worm either dragging it across the bottom or using a twitch and fall method.  But, based on the conditions, the Black rockfish will demand a presentation accordingly. 

http://www.lib.noaa.gov/retiredsites/korea/main_species/rockfish.htm

Some info about the fish.

 

-Later

Kayaking Newport Harbor with BFS techiques 11/15/14

Another day, another adventure.  I took my new Malibu Sierra 10 out for its maiden voyage with the company of two awesome friends.  Needless to say, my vessel's first trip on the water was a success, but the catching department was not.  I threw just about everything that worked for me in the past at these spotties, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, plastics, all of it!  But, the only thing that seemed to get a bite was a slow crawl with some goby shaped plastics fished on my Curado 50E and Kuying BFS set-up. 

So, to make a long story short, we all caught fish, but it could have been better.

Me: 5 fish.  3 little Spotties, 1 Sand Bass, Sculpin.
My kayaking buddy: 4 decent Spotties and a few micro sized sand bass
My tubing friend: 2 little spotties, 2 little sand bass, and a Jacksmelt

Fun times all around even though the catching became fishing.

 

 

Later...